Etymology
The scientific name of the dromedary camel is Camelus dromedarius, which could be based on the Greek δρομάς δραμεῖν (dromas kamelos), meaning 'running camel'. The Babylonians and Assyrians were the first to refer to the dromedary as gammalu, similar to the word gâmâl used in the Bible.
The term 'dromedary' comes from the Old French word dromedaire, or the Latin word dromedarius, which means 'swift'. It is based on the Greek word dromas, the prefix 'dromad-' meaning runner. An early variant of this word was 'drumblediary' (used in the 1560s). The term 'camel' is derived via Latin and Greek from Hebrew or Phoenician gāmāl, possibly from a verb root meaning 'to bear/carry' (related to Arabic jamala). It may also have an Old French origin from the word chamel and Modern French chameau. The word 'dromedary' was used in English since the fourteenth century AD. Aristotle called the dromedary as "the camel of the Arabians".
Read more about this topic: Dromedary
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)